"Why Do Some Fruits and Vegetables Conduct Electricity?" Topic

"At any science fair, you're almost guaranteed to see at least two go-to experiments: the clichéd papier-mâché volcano and the ever-popular pickle or potato battery. Many people may think it's amazing that a simple piece of produce can conduct electricity. As it turns out, that's not the whole story.

There are many types of electrical conductors. These include traditional electrical conductors, such as the copper and silver wires that are used to run electrical currents in homes and buildings, and ionic conductors, which can power electricity via free moving ions. Organic material, such as human tissue or the potato in your science experiment, are ionic conductors that create ionic circuits. Electrolytes — chemical compounds that create ions when they are dissolved in water — in these materials do all of the work…."
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Amicalement
Armand

The only quibble I will raise is that the title should be "why do they conduct electricity *well*. Everything conducts electricity with enough pressure…

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Yep. It's all about the electrolytes, the water and the all-powerful unseen force created by the midichlorians. :)

Dan

Electrolytes, ions, blah, blah, you can get arcing in a vacuum. So when there is *nothing* there you can still get a flow of electricity.

Electrolytes, ions, blah, blah, you can get arcing in a vacuum. So when there is *nothing* there you can still get a flow of electricity.

Not in biological systems. An electrical charge down a biological membrane is nothing like electricity moving down a wire or arcing in a vacuum.